English (SDH),
French, Spanish,
none
(burned-in for the non-English dialogue)

Extras:

• Blu-ray presented as a BD Book featuring 40 pages filled
with beautiful images and excerpts from the book “The Friedkin Connection a Memoir”. Includes a new and personal
forward written by Mr. Friedkin.

Bitrate:

Description: The plot of William Friedkin's suspense
thriller originated with the same Georges Arnaud novel that
inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot's French suspense classic The Wages of Fear (1953). Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer,
Francisco Rabal, and Amidou play four men who, for various
reasons, cannot return to their own countries. They end up
in a dismal South American town where an American oil
company is seeking out courageous drivers willing to haul
nitroglycerin over 200 miles of treacherous terrain. The
four stateless men have nothing to lose -- and, besides,
they'll be paid 10,000 dollars apiece, and be granted legal
citizenship, if they survive. The suspense is almost
unbearable at times, even outdistancing the tension level of
The Wages of Fear
in certain scenes. Unfortunately
while this film should have been a blockbuster given
Friedkin’s preceding films (French Connection & Exorcist) it’s ultimate BO success was hampered by being
released one month after Star Wars and arguably by
it’s title. This is a fascinating movie with an even more
fascinating back story.

The Film:

The plot of William Friedkin's suspense thriller originated with the
same Georges Arnaud novel that inspired Henri-Georges Clouzot's French
suspense classic The Wages of Fear
(1953). Roy Scheider, Bruno
Cremer, Francisco Rabal, and Amidou play four men who, for various
reasons, cannot return to their own countries. They end up in a dismal
South American town where an American oil company is seeking out
courageous drivers willing to haul nitroglycerin over 200 miles of
treacherous terrain. The four stateless men have nothing to lose -- and,
besides, they'll be paid 10,000 dollars apiece, and be granted legal
citizenship, if they survive. The suspense is almost unbearable at
times, even outdistancing the tension level of The Wages of Fear
in certain scenes. Sorcerer had all the earmarks of a moneymaker, but
this picture bombed for a rather odd and silly reason: its glaringly
inappropriate title. Fans of Friedkin's Exorcist
may have
gone home disappointed that not one sorcerer ever rears its ugly head.

Friedkin's SORCERER is just as gripping and spine-tingling an
adventure film as The Wages of Fear
and, at times, surpasses the
original film with breathtaking photography and a superb use of sound
(the scene on the bridge is truly amazing). The musical score by German
electronic experimental band Tangerine Dream is brilliant and haunting.
The eerie electronic music adds immeasurably to the overall effect of
the film, complementing the exotic imagery perfectly. Tangerine Dream
has since done dozens of superior scores for films as diverse as RISKY BUSINESS and THIEF (Friedkin once stated that if he had
heard the band's music before he finished Exorcist, he would
have hired it to do the music for that film as well). While critics
bemoan Friedkin and screenwriter Green's changes in the story line and
lengthy expository passage (the film runs 70 minutes before the men
actually board the trucks), they forget that The Wages of Fear
also has a long first half. Both films develop their characters fully.
While the French film is more subtle and takes some jabs at the American
exploitation of foreign resources, SORCERER retains the French film's
social concerns and goes one step further by introducing a revolutionary
movement intent on removing the oil company.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Sorcerergets a highly anticipated
Blu-ray
transfer
from Warner. Despite the 2-hour film rendered to a
single-layered disc with modest bitrate - the image quality
looks quite impressive in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The
transfer is advertised as 'supervised by Friedkin'. Colors
are definitely brighter and truer than
SD could relate. The jungle-greens are vibrant. There may be
a tinge of teal-leaning - not much though. The film has the
gritty look of Friedkin's French Connection.
Skin tones show some warmth. There are notable film textures
and I see no manipulations. I don't know that dual-layering
would advance this
Blu-ray
image extensively more than this. This looks quite good.
There is no noise (maybe a tiny amount in the darkest
recesses of the night scenes) and plenty of depth visible in
the daylight. The film is visually impressive and the Warner
Blu-ray
seems to have kept pace.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

Fabulous audio
- the film has the amazing score by Tangerine Dream rendered to
Blu-ray
via a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at a whopping 3824 kbps. There is plenty of
depth in the aggression (explosions.) Separations are evident, if never
notably crisp but the beautiful moody score goes right through you
adding intensity of the film. This is good enough to listen to alone
without the video portion. Lotsa power... and grace in the piercing
electronic soundtrack. There are optional English subtitles (burned-in
for the non-English dialogue) and m

y
Oppo
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

Extras :

No digital
supplements but the package comes as part of a Blu-ray Book featuring 40 pages filled
with beautiful images and excerpts from the book “The Friedkin Connection a Memoir”. Includes a new and personal
forward written by Mr. Friedkin.

BOTTOM LINE: Tension, macho violence and atmosphere permeate Friedkin's
Sorcerer. This is a helluva film to have on
Blu-ray in my opinion. the 1080P picks up the jungle-socked atmosphere
significantly better than SD. This adds even more suspense.
I wish there were more extras but the digi-book packaging is
impressive and the HD, a/v, experience a real keeper.
Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze

April 11th, 2014

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my
discussion Listserv for furthering my film
education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver.
Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our
Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.